As a leadership and career coach, I cannot tell you how many times clients will say, “I had a feeling that…” when reflecting on a decision that they’ve made that didn’t go as they’d hoped.
I often invite them to go back to when they experienced that feeling (or thought). Many times, they admit that they didn’t pay attention to it and say something like, “It was just a feeling. I ignored it and kept on doing what I needed to do to make the most logical decision.”
It’s never just a feeling.
Consider for a moment that your body is a big antenna. If you do some research, you will find that the heart is actually much more of an energetic presence in your body than the brain. Many ancient cultures consider the heart to be the seat of the soul. Its energetic field extends outside of our physical body. Meanwhile, the brain, as powerful as it is, and capable of so many great things does not have anywhere near the same electrical or energetic presence of the heart.
Remember a time in your life when you were making a decision. While considering a course of action you noticed a sinking in your gut, or a shiver, or an open and expansive feeling. At that moment, it caused you to pay attention. Maybe you didn’t do anything about it, but you noticed it. Or maybe you had an intuitive hit or a doubt or even a crazy, exciting idea that crossed your mind. If we dismiss the information our inner knowing provides, we’re not leveraging the intelligence of our entire body.
Making Decisions
Making a decision only from logic may be a cause for regret. When reviewing major decisions I’ve made, I’m pleased to say that I have no regrets. I’ve found that in those moments, I gave equal importance to the logical path as well as invited my full body to communicate with me. By paying attention to thoughts, insights, feelings, and even during meditation and contemplation, observing how my body was reacting. Had I made the decisions only from my logical mind there would have likely been regrets. In every single decision, my course of action appeared illogical to most around me. Yet, I was settled with my choice. Only because I had taken the time to listen to my inner knowing and did not dismiss it.
Yes, it takes some trial and error. This builds our skills and improves our level of self-trust. We become more empowered and confident. Once you start slowing down and paying attention to your inner knowing, the next step is to feel into its message. Listen to your thoughts and notice what’s happening in your body. Messages are being received all the time. The question is are we listening?
Collaborate
So, the next time you are making a decision I invite you to first allow the mind to define the issue or challenge. Put that to the side and allow your body’s intelligence to speak to you. As you’re considering different decisions, Pause, Observe, Feel, and Receive your inner knowing. Once you have the meaning of the feeling, thought or insight it’s then time for the final step to Collaborate. Bring that new awareness to your mind and allow both logic and your inner knowing to enter into collaboration. Soon you will have an answer and path forward that logically seems correct and feels right. This approach creates unwavering self-trust and inner harmony.
Recent Comments